A crowd of students cheered on fellow Gator Matthew Lake as he did more than two dozen pull-ups Tuesday afternoon.
Lake, a political science sophomore and a member of UF’s Navy ROTC, did 28 pull-ups as part of an event organized by the Semper Fi Society.
The Semper Fi Society, a group for those interested in the Marine Corps and ROTC, organized the event on Turlington Plaza from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. to give passers-by the opportunity to test their upper-body strength by doing pull-ups.
About 60 students turned out to take the challenge.
People who took the pull-up challenge, regardless of success rate, were rewarded with a United States Marine Corps T-shirt.
“If they give 100 percent effort, they get a free T-shirt,” said Lt. Dennis Keller, organizer of the event and ROTC staff member.
Members of the society also gave out information about the Marine Corps and advice on how to stay healthy, Keller said.
Keller said the goal of the event was to raise awareness about and interest in the Marine Corps and physical health in general.
“We just want to show what physical fitness and being fit is all about,” he said.
